On entering Rome we found our accomodation (an apartment block in a suburb called Trastevere, on the other side of the Tiber River). It was not as close to the centre of Rome as we had hoped, but it was within the budget and had a kitchen and a funny Sardinian host who liked to talk. All day, if we let him. We dropped off our car with a little sadness. We had come to depend on the luxury of extra storage space and the freedom that it provided (not having to rely ...

Driving in Italy has been a crazy experience. Countless of warnings were given but nothing can prepare you for these maniacs. Their flashing lights, their overuse of car horns, their death defying overtaking techniques and their overall agressive driving attitudes required a lot of deep breathing and relaxing to avoid giving them a quick upper-cut to the chin. On top of this their car parking is hilarious. No stretch of road, curbside or even in a cafe is safe fr...

A quick stop in Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which we both thought was nice as it had some other nice buildings nearby, then it was off to Umbria. As we drove through Tuscany the sun was low in the sky. Our first impression on Italy's most rural region was of warm, earthy fields, rolling wheat coloured hills dotted with deserted stone villas and Cypress trees. Very true to all the images I had built up in my mind over the years!Vineyards and olive gro...

A long drive through winding roads barely clinging to the steep cliffs with magnificant views of remote fishing villages, led us to our next destination of Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra, meaning 5 Towns. On a coastline on the east of Italy are 5 small and remote seaside fishing towns which were once quiet rural villages, joined only by a narrow and dangerous walking track on the edge of the cliffs, is now a melting pot of tourist activity, where tourists from all o...

I fell for Venice immediately - it was definately a case of "love at first sight". The canals, the music, the narrow streets, the gondola's - it was unlike anything I have ever seen before. Venice is much bigger than we expected, and we got lost many times, but that was half the fun, and I think the best way to discover this labrinyth of streets and canals. We spent our one full day in Venice watching the boats on the canals, shopping, exploring and wi...